TY - JOUR
T1 - Beliefs About Sexual Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Among Adolescents in South Africa
AU - Pollanen, K.
AU - de Vries, H.
AU - Mathews, C.
AU - Schneider, F.
AU - de Vries, P.J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The data used in this study were taken from the PREPARE study, full title is “Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Adolescents in Southern and Eastern Africa—Mobilizing Schools, Parents and Communities.” The partners and principal investigators were University of Cape Town (Cathy Mathews), Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Sylvia Kaaya), University of Limpopo (Hans Onya), Makerere University (Anne Katahoire), Maastricht University (Hein De Vries), University of Exeter (Charles Abraham), University of Oslo (Knut-Inge Klepp), and University of Bergen (Leif Edvard Aarø—Coordinator). We would like to express our gratitude to the members of the PREPARE Scientific Advisory Committee: Nancy Darling, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA; Jane Ferguson, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK; Eleanor Maticka-Tyndale, University of Windsor, Canada; and David Ross, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. We are indebted to the school staff and young people for their participation in this study. See also the project homepage http://prepare.b.uib.no/ The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The PREPARE study was funded by the EC (European Commission) Health research program (under the 7th Framework Program), Grant Agreement No. 241945.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2021/2/1
Y1 - 2021/2/1
N2 - Sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem worldwide. Research regarding beliefs about perpetrating sexual IPV is, however, limited. This study investigated attitudes, social influence, and self-efficacy beliefs and intentions toward perpetrating sexual IPV among Grade 8 adolescents (M age = 13.73, SD = 1.04) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The study sample was taken from the baseline data of the Promoting sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in Southern and Eastern Africa (PREPARE) study, a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Young adolescents (N = 2,199), from 42 randomly selected high schools, participated in the study and answered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Multivariate ANOVA were conducted to assess differences in beliefs and intention toward perpetrating sexual IPV between boys and girls, and between perpetrators and nonperpetrators. Results showed that boys were more frequently perpetrators (11.3% vs. 3.2%) and victims (13.6% vs. 6.4%) of sexual IPV than girls. Boys' attitudes toward perpetrating sexual IPV were more supportive than girls'. Boys perceived their social network to be more likely to think that putting pressure on a boyfriend or girlfriend to have sex is okay, and boys had a lower self-efficacy to refrain from pressuring a boyfriend or girlfriend to have sex compared with girls. Both boys and girls, who have perpetrated sexual IPV, had more tolerant attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy beliefs toward sexual IPV perpetration, compared with nonperpetrators. Intention not to perpetrate sexual IPV did not differ between boys and girls, or between perpetrators and nonperpetrators. Our findings suggest that interventions should address attitude and social influence beliefs regarding sexual IPV perpetration. More attention should be given to sexual IPV perpetration among boys. Given that sexual IPV victimization and perpetration are significantly linked, prevention of sexual IPV perpetration seems to be of utmost importance.
AB - Sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem worldwide. Research regarding beliefs about perpetrating sexual IPV is, however, limited. This study investigated attitudes, social influence, and self-efficacy beliefs and intentions toward perpetrating sexual IPV among Grade 8 adolescents (M age = 13.73, SD = 1.04) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The study sample was taken from the baseline data of the Promoting sexual and reproductive health among adolescents in Southern and Eastern Africa (PREPARE) study, a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Young adolescents (N = 2,199), from 42 randomly selected high schools, participated in the study and answered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Multivariate ANOVA were conducted to assess differences in beliefs and intention toward perpetrating sexual IPV between boys and girls, and between perpetrators and nonperpetrators. Results showed that boys were more frequently perpetrators (11.3% vs. 3.2%) and victims (13.6% vs. 6.4%) of sexual IPV than girls. Boys' attitudes toward perpetrating sexual IPV were more supportive than girls'. Boys perceived their social network to be more likely to think that putting pressure on a boyfriend or girlfriend to have sex is okay, and boys had a lower self-efficacy to refrain from pressuring a boyfriend or girlfriend to have sex compared with girls. Both boys and girls, who have perpetrated sexual IPV, had more tolerant attitude, social influence, and self-efficacy beliefs toward sexual IPV perpetration, compared with nonperpetrators. Intention not to perpetrate sexual IPV did not differ between boys and girls, or between perpetrators and nonperpetrators. Our findings suggest that interventions should address attitude and social influence beliefs regarding sexual IPV perpetration. More attention should be given to sexual IPV perpetration among boys. Given that sexual IPV victimization and perpetration are significantly linked, prevention of sexual IPV perpetration seems to be of utmost importance.
KW - beliefs about violence
KW - intimate partner violence
KW - perpetrator
KW - south africa
KW - young adolescents
KW - South Africa
U2 - 10.1177/0886260518756114
DO - 10.1177/0886260518756114
M3 - Article
C2 - 29444627
SN - 0886-2605
VL - 36
SP - NP2056-2078NP
JO - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
JF - Journal of Interpersonal Violence
IS - 3-4
ER -